Malec Modern Romeo & Juliet

Chapter 20 Act 4 Scene 1

Bother Zacharia and Underhill enter.

Brother Zacharia
On Thursday, sir? That's very soon.

Underhill
That's how my future father-in-law Robert wants it, and I'm not dragging my feet.

Brother Zacharia
You say you don't know what the boy thinks. That's a rocky road to be riding. I don't like it.

Underhill
He's grieving too much over the death of Jace. So, I haven't had the chance to talk to him about love. Romantic love doesn't happen when people are in mourning. Now, sir, his father thinks it's dangerous that he allows himself to become so sad. He's being smart by rushing our marriage to stop him from crying. He cries too much by himself. If he had someone to be with him, he would stop crying. Now you know the reason for the rush.

Brother Zacharia
(to himself) I wish I didn't know the reason why the marriage should be slowed down.

Look, sir, here comes the gentleman walking toward my cell.

Alec enters.

Underhill
I'm happy to meet you, my gentleman and my husband.

Alec
That might be the case sir, after I'm married.

Underhill
That "may be" must be, love, on Thursday.

Alec
What must be will be.

Brother Zacharia
That is a certain truth.

Underhill
Have you come to make confession to this father?

Alec
If I answered that question, I'd be making confession to you.

Underhill
Don't deny to him that you love me.

Alec
I'll confess to you that I love him.

Underhill
You will also confess, I'm sure, that you love me.

Alec
If I do so, it will mean more if I say it behind your back than if I say it to your face.

Underhill
You poor soul, your face has suffered many tears.

Alec
The tears haven't done much because my face looked bad enough before I started to cry.

Underhill
You're treating your face even worse by saying that.

Alec
What I say isn't slander, sir. It's the truth. And what I said, I said to my face.

Underhill
Your face is mine, and you have slandered it.

Alec
That may be the case, because my face doesn't belong to me. -Do you have time for me now, Father, or should I come to you at evening mass?

Brother Zacharia
I have time for you now, my sad son. (to Underhill) My lord, we must ask you to leave us alone.

Underhill
God forbid that I should prevent sacred devotion! Alec, I will wake you early on Thursday. (kissing him) Until then, good-bye, and keep this holy kiss.

Underhill exits.

Alec
Oh, shut the door, and after you shut it, come over here and weep with me. This mess is beyond hope, beyond cure, beyond help!

Brother Zacharia
Oh, Alec, I already know about your sad situation. It's a problem too hard for me to solve. I hear that you must marry this count on Thursday, and that nothing can delay it.

Alec
Don't tell me that you've heard about this marriage, Friar, unless you can tell me how to prevent it. If you who are so wise can't help, please be kind enough to call my solution wise. (she shows him a knife) And I'll solve the problem now with this knife. God joined my heart to Magnus's. You joined our hands. And before I-who was married to Magnus by you-am married to another man, I'll kill myself. You are wise and you have so much experience. Give me some advice about the current situation. Or watch. Caught between these two difficulties, I'll act like a judge with my bloody knife. I will truly and honourably resolve the situation that you can't fix, despite your experience and education. Don't wait long to speak. I want to die if what you say isn't another solution.

Brother Zacharia
Hold on, son, I see some hope. But we must act boldly because the situation is so desperate. If you've made up your mind to kill yourself instead of marrying Count Underhill, then you'll probably be willing to try something like death to solve this shameful problem. You can wrestle with death to escape from shame. And if you dare to do it, I'll give you the solution.

Alec
Oh, you can tell me to jump off the battle posts of any tower, or to walk down the crime-ridden streets of a slum. Or tell me to sit in a field full of poisonous snakes. Chain me up with wild bears. Hide me every night in a morgue full of dead bodies with wet, smelly flesh and skulls without jawbones. Or tell me to climb down into a freshly dug grave and hide me with a dead man in his tomb. All those ideas make me tremble when I hear them named. But I will do them without fear or dread in order to be a pure husband to my sweet love.

Brother Zacharia
Hold on, then. Go home, be cheerful, and tell them you agree to marry Underhill. Tomorrow is Wednesday. Tomorrow night make sure that you are alone. Don't let the Nurse stay with you in your bedroom. (showing him a vial) When you're in bed, take this vial, mix its contents with liquor, and drink. Then a cold, sleep-inducing drug will run through your veins, and your pulse will stop. Your flesh will be cold, and you'll stop breathing. The red in your lips and your cheeks will turn pale, and your eyes will shut. It will seem like you're dead. You won't be able to move, and your body will be stiff like a corpse. You'll remain in this deathlike state for forty-two hours, and then you'll wake up as if from a pleasant sleep. Now, when the groom comes to get you out of bed on Thursday morning, you'll seem dead. Then, as tradition demands, you'll be dressed up in your best clothes, put in an open coffin, and carried to the Lightwood family tomb. Meanwhile, I'll send Magnus word of our plan. He'll come here, and we'll keep a watch for when you wake up. That night, Magnus will take you away to Mantua. This plan will free you from the shameful situation that troubles you now as long as you don't change your mind or become scared like a silly man and ruin your brave effort.

Alec
Give me the vial. Give it to me! Don't talk to me about fear.

Brother Zacharia
(giving him the vial) Now go along on your way. Be strong and successful in this decision. I'll send a friar quickly to Mantua with my letter for Magnus.

Alec
Love will give me strength, and strength will help me accomplish this plan. Goodbye, dear Father.

They exit separately.